Snake, Wolf and Blood
by Jack Noshima
Summary: Harry's last Guardian has died, but what he thinks is a Guardian is about to change, and Harry's life changes when he hears the truth about his ties to Snape. Set after OOTP. Chapter 11 up. Please R&R. Sorry for the long delay.
1. Chapter 1 Departing Dursleys

**Author Note**

I do not own Harry Potter, the characters, places or thing in it. I am merely using the characters to create a story of my own. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

Harry opened his eyes. The lights became suddenly bright and it took a moment for Harry's eyes to adjust. He reached out with his hand and grabbed his glasses. Sound began to fall into his ears and he heard Hedwig hooting. Harry put on his glasses and sat up in bed. He looked around his room. Everything seemed normal in the Dursley house, that is of course until Harry noticed his alarm clock.

"10 o'clock?" Harry said sleepily, taking a double take to make sure he had seen the time correctly. "I should have been woken up ages ago."

He put his feet over the side of the bed and sat there for a moment. He knew something was wrong, and only now realised that everything seemed rather quiet. He stood up and slowly walked to his window. Everything on the street was normal; the same today as it was the day before and the day before that. Harry shook these thoughts out of his head, and realised he wouldn't know anything until he went downstairs.

Once Harry was fully dressed he crept out of his room onto the landing. He poked his head out of the door and looked round first, just to make sure no one was there. He walked to the top of the stairs and took one step down. It was here, now, in that instant when he heard voices talking downstairs. He crept further down so that he could listen.

"Mr Dursley, if you would just listen to me," Dumbledore's voice said, in its usual calm and warm manner.

"No," Vernon's voice boomed out, louder than it needed to be, "I will not listen to this rubbish."

"It is not safe for Harry, or any of you, to be here any longer," Dumbledore said, his voice clearly indicating he had tried to make this point many times.

"You people have no right to be in my house, you have invaded my life, and if you're not careful I will call the police!" Vernon shouted.

Harry sighed to himself. He had sat down on the step and now had his head in his hands. He knew Vernon was stupid, but he didn't realise how stupid until this point.

"Mr Dursley, I realised you were stupid, but I didn't realise how stupid until this point. Mr Potter is in grave danger if he stays here, and so are all of you, now I suggest you listen to the professor and start moving or else you will _all _be dead within a day," Snape's voice called out, harsh and cold as ever. "Are you getting the picture yet?"

There was a deathly silence, but Harry knew that Snape was staring deep into Vernon's eyes, making him shiver and fear the black eyes that were looking back. He did, however, wonder why Snape was even there in the first place, but he slogged it down to Dumbledore forcing him to come.

"What has changed?" Vernon said, surprisingly quiet.

"Harry's last guardian has died, now he has no protection against Voldemort," Dumbledore said bluntly.

Harry didn't need to hear what was said next because he knew who his last guardian was. It was Sirius Black. His parent's friend and his Godfather. Sirius had died at the end of the last school year in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. Harry occasionally still had nightmares about the whole experience.

Harry heard Vernon agree meekly to moving.

"You can come down now Harry," Dumbledore said out loud.

There was silence as Harry descended the stairs. He walked into the room with a guilty look on his face, like when a dog brings in a ball they found in the grass and they know they're not supposed to have it.

"How long have you been listening, boy!" Vernon shouted.

Vernon brought his hand in the air to hit Harry around the back of the head, but he stopped when he realised he had two wands pointing at him. Harry hadn't even seen Snape's hand move, but now there was a wand pointing straight at Vernon's head; and Remus Lupin, who had been stood next to the door and was behind it when it opened, had appeared and got his wand also pointing at Vernon's head.

"I think that would be a _very _foolish thing to do," Remus said, with a calm voice and a sly smile.

Vernon was frozen, he hated the idea of magic and now he had two magic casting sticks pointed at him, with two wizards who scared him to death anyway.

"Hand down," Snape commanded, with a flick of his wand.

Vernon followed the command, almost as if he was a puppet on one of Snape's strings. Harry ran from Vernon and hugged Remus.

"I've missed you," Harry said.

"I've missed you too, Harry," Remus said laughing.

With hugging Remus, memories of Sirius flooded back into his head. Remus and Sirius had been extremely close friends, ever since their Marauder days. Remus was the closest thing Harry had to family now. It was odd though, that Remus and Snape did the same action of drawing their wands at the same time. Harry found this whole situation highly irregular, but in its own right it was regular considering how his life was hardly ever normal, what with being the arch enemy of a snake-faced, wand-wielding psychopath and all. 'Ahh the joys of life', Harry thought to himself as these thoughts passed through his mind.

"So, Potter, how much did you hear?" Snape asked, putting away his wand.

"That me and the Dursleys are in trouble," Harry said, summing up what he had heard, "and it's because Sirius is dead."

Lupin flinched at how casually Harry seemed able to say that. Harry looked at him with an apologetic look, but was quickly brought to attention by Dumbledore.

"Yes, that is true, there is much to discuss, Harry, and we can only do so at Hogwarts where it is safe and secure," he explained, his voice soft, but holding an immense amount of authority. "Sirius's death was saddening and unfortunate, he lived a harsh life and came to an early end, but I am afraid it is more unfortunate because he has passed before we had time to tell you certain things that you need to know."

"When do we leave?" Harry asked, holding back the tears that were brought to his eyes by Dumbledore's words.

"You are to pack your stuff, all of you," Dumbledore said, looking at the Dursleys, "and we will leave immediately. We will be using a Port Key to teleport straight into my office at Hogwarts. Vernon, you are to get in your car and drive as far away from here as you can, and as fast as you can."

Everyone nodded, except Vernon and the other Dursleys who were still unhappy about having to abandon their home so early in the morning.

When Harry was packed he and Remus carried his stuff downstairs. Harry sat on his trunk whilst Dumbledore gave the Dursleys a final word that they will be safe if they keep moving. When he returned Dumbledore was holding an umbrella.

"This is the Port Key," he said, stating the obvious.

Harry grabbed hold, and so did Remus and Snape. He felt the familiar pulling sensation at his navel as the room began to spin and it felt like Harry was being yanked off the floor by a chain. He looked across at Dumbledore, whose lips were curved and he was laughing. Dumbledore always found that the sensations created by teleportation with a Port Key tickled him, and when he was given the ability to create Port Keys he spent a day and a half teleporting to random locations just because the pulling made him laugh. The four landed safely inside Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. Dumbledore landed securely on his feet without even looking unstable. Remus and Snape wobbled but managed to stay on their feet. Harry, however, landed flat on his face in the middle of the floor.

"I'll never get used to that," he moaned, though his voice was muffled by the rug that his mouth appeared to be trying to eat.

Remus grabbed Harry's arm.

"Here you go, my boy," he said, lifting Harry to his feet.

Harry looked round the room. It was exactly how he remembered it; Fawkes was sitting on his perch, his flames falling fainter, signalling the end of another cycle; the paintings of old Hogwarts Headmasters were hanging from the wall, some asleep, some listening and some pretending to be asleep but listening anyway. When Harry looked back round Dumbledore had already taken his high backed chair behind his large desk.

"Take a seat, Harry," he said indicating to the chair.

Harry sat down and looked across the desk at Dumbledore, but his attention was also on Snape, who had just walked around the desk to Dumbledore's side, and Remus, who was stood next to him.

"Harry, there is a lot to discuss and there is little time to discuss it in," Dumbledore said, his eyes losing their warmth and turning serious.

"Ok, Professor, I'm ready to listen," Harry said, though slightly nervous.

"Ok, Harry, I'm going to say the first thing as bluntly as I can because it is the only way I can do it without sugar coating it too much," Dumbledore said.

Harry was really nervous now.

"James is not your father."


	2. Chapter 2 Kendal

Chapter 2

"James is not your father," Dumbledore said softly.

Remus's hand shot to Harry's shoulder, both to comfort him and stop him if he went crazy. A moment passed and Harry hadn't moved an inch. Dumbledore did not speak anymore either. They were both looking at each other and it took a moment for Snape and Remus to realise that the pair were staring each other down. All the time Harry was staring into those bright blue eyes, his anger was rising and rising. Then he snapped. Remus was unprepared and his hand did nothing on Harry's shoulder.

"What the hell do you mean, James wasn't my father?" Harry screamed out.

Snape's hand fell to his waist, ready to draw his wand at any time. Dumbledore sat back and held out his hands for order.

"Calm down Harry, I will explain," Dumbledore said.

Harry stood there, his fists clenched and seething with anger.

"You were born into this world by another, but the family you were born into was in even more danger than the Potters. It was decided we were to take the most drastic measures. We used magic that has not been used in centuries, and magic that I cannot, in good conscience, speak of now. Unfortunately the times we live in call for bad conscience decisions to be made," Dumbledore explained.

"Then stop dodging the point and tell me what it was!" Harry shouted, "and if James wasn't my father then who was?"

Fawkes burst into flames and the ashes fell to the floor. There was a momentary silence in which everyone looked towards Fawkes. Remus found the timing incredibly funny and let out a laugh, but he stopped after the scowl from Snape could have killed him.

"The magic that was used was ancient Blood Magic, but unfortunately I can only speak that much about it," Dumbledore said, sighing.

"Then what is the point of telling me?" Harry shouted again. "And tell me who my father was!"

"I can't, Harry," Dumbledore said sadly, "due to the nature of the Blood Magic I can not tell you the details of what happened, or the name of your true father. You have to discover the details for yourself, and to do so you must face many perils."

Harry couldn't speak. If he did he thought that he would utter a numerous string profanity that would make an old person deaf and a young person cry.

"There is other news, Harry," Remus said, a voice of calm in Harry's head.

Harry looked at his friend, showing he didn't want to know more, but he knew in Remus's face that there was more he had to know. He looked back at Professor Dumbledore then sat back in the chair.

"The Ministry of Magic has put the school into Administration. There will be a large amount of Ministry officials coming to the school and checking over every detail in the school, then will be sending a constant number of reports back to the Ministry, detailing everything we do," Dumbledore explained. "We fear that the Ministry has been compromised by Voldemort, and he is going to destroy the school from inside our own lines."

Harry knew what this meant. Hogwarts was always a place of safety for him, but now even that was going to be taken away. If the Ministry was being controlled by Voldemort then he wasn't safe at Hogwarts anymore, and he had no safe place to be any more.

"So where am I going to go?" Harry asked, looking around at the three older faces for some hope.

"Remus and Snape are to accompany you to a safe house out in the country, and then together, all three of you will start your journey to find your real father. It is only when you find him can you stand a chance against Voldemort now," Dumbledore explained.

Harry was confused.

"What has changed to make me stand less chance against Voldemort now?" Harry asked.

"Your last guardian died," Dumbledore said bluntly.

"But why does Sirius's death affect my chances against Voldemort?" Harry asked, holding back the emotions that came with the words 'Sirius's death'.

"Sirius was your last living Guardian," Dumbledore explained. "He was one of three guardians which were bound by blood to protect you. I think you know who the other two were, but because they are dead the protection their lives gave you has now gone."

Harry understood further, but he was still so confused about so many things.

"Why is Professor Snape going?" Harry asked.

"He knows a lot of places that Voldemort won't think to check, and we need him to not be at school in case the Ministry aren't compromised, there are divisions at the Ministry that are trying to get as many Death Eaters as they can get, and with Severus's background it would make him a prime target," Dumbledore explained.

Harry nodded his head. He was still extremely annoyed at what Dumbledore had said, but he understood the situation and he knew there were certain types of magic he knew nothing about.

"Do you know who my real father is?" Harry asked at last, now calming down more.

"Yes, Harry, I do," Dumbledore said softly, nodding his head slightly, "but due to the spell that was cast, I cannot even give you a clue."

"How will I be able to know then?" Harry asked.

"This type of spell is extremely rarely used, and the way to reverse it was lost to the wizarding world years ago, but it is still out there in the world somewhere, and we will begin looking in a town called Kendal, in the Lake District," Snape explained.

"Why, Kendal?" Harry asked, looking at Snape and then at Remus, who was in obvious discomfort.

"Do we really have to take him there, Severus?" Remus asked.

"Yes we do, Mr Lupin, because as you well know, the spell means we can't pass on any information. Harry has to be here to hear everything," Snape said, sharply but with sarcasm, clearly indicating he thought the werewolf was an idiot.

"What's in Kendal?" Harry asked, his agitation rising again.

"Experts in blood magic," Remus said, trying to dodge around the real answer.

Harry looked at Remus, but before he could ask who the expert in blood magic were, Snape answered for him.

"Vampires."

***

They arrived in the middle of a wooded area. The trees were tall and thin, but the light was still blocked from above by the canopy of branches and leaves, whether it was near or far.

"Listen to me carefully, Mr Potter," Snape said, his voice conveying that this was a matter of utmost important, "the people of Kendal know nothing of the vampires who live here, and that is because they live in absolute secrecy, but they aren't like any creature you will have ever met before, so keep quiet and let me do the talking."

Harry was annoyed by Snape, why did he have to act like he wasn't even there when this whole situation was about him. He clenched his fists and followed when Remus and Snape began to leave. Harry noticed that neither Snape, nor Remus's hand moved too far from his wand at any given time. The two adults were anxious about something.

The Port Key they had been using, an empty bag of Sugar Plums that Dumbledore had enjoyed the day before and which still had remnants of the sugar in the bottom of the bag, had taken them to about a mile outside the town of Kendal. Just as they reached the edge of the forest, Snape suddenly stopped. He looked around to make sure there was no one looking. He then pulled his cloak off and threw it to the side.

"Incendio," Snape said, making the cloak burst into flames, leaving no evidence he was ever there.

Under his cloak, Snape was wearing a pair of bright orange knee-length shorts, a blue t-shirt that said "Save the World, it's the only one with chocolate" across the front, and pale blue coloured socks, with a pair of white Nike trainers to go accompany them. Harry giggled to himself; he had never seen such a sight in his life. He took a sideways glance at Remus who was, himself, struggling to control his laughter. The pair burst out laughing at Snape's ridiculous outfit. Snape's face twist in agitation.

"What are you wearing then?" Snape asked, thinking Remus's outfit must be just as bad.

Remus pulled his cloak off and did the same procedure of setting it alight. Under the cloak Remus was wearing a pair of black jeans, and a purple button-up shirt. His socks were black and he was wearing shoes. The smart clothing didn't look bad on a man Remus's age, but Snape looked like an old man had tried to make clothes, that were 20 years too young for him, work. Snape's face contorted in anger. Harry couldn't help another burst of laughing. Snape strode past the two and began to walk towards the town.

When they arrived, Snape was still angry. He had calmed down but he never would be totally calm until he was out of those clothes. The trio walked down the street with meaning, so no one would ask if they were lost. Snape knew where he was going, but Remus and Harry had no idea. Harry looked around at the town of Kendal. It was a beautiful place. In the distance there were mountains and hills that seemed to stretch into the sky. In between two of the hills, Harry could see Windermere Lake, and the water was deep blue and looked as still as a summer's day. All the people seemed to be walking by without a care in the world, and much to Snape's liking, not a single one of them seemed to give the trio a second glance.

Snape led the way down an alley, and it was a creepy alley at that. The further down you went, the darker it seemed to get. Harry would swear later that he saw the shadows move near the other end of the alley. Snape came to a large iron grate in the wall. He tapped his wand onto the large steel padlock and it sprung open. Harry realised they were heading down into the sewer system. As soon as he stepped in, Harry could smell things he never wished to smell. They walked about 100 yards, entering into the main sewage tunnel about 50 yards in and turning left to follow the main sewer pipe along for 50 yards, into the sewer before they stopped. There was a faint noise in the darkness, then all was quiet.

"Why can't you just use Lumos?" Harry whispered his question.

"The light is too pure, it would anger the vampires," Snape explained.

Then there was another noise. It was like something fluttered across the tunnel in front of them. Then the noise happened again, but this time behind them. All three turned round. Remus and Snape drew their wands. The fluttering happened on both sides. Then there was a snapping sound. A dim yellow light illuminated the tunnel. In front of Harry, Remus and Snape were two men. Their teeth were pointed and their faces were distorted. Their skin was pale, and even though could only see it you could tell it was soft. Their eyes were solid black shapes and sharp nails extended from their fingers. Harry turned round; behind him there were three more of these men.

"We come in peace," Snape said, though his wand pointing was highly unconvincing.

"You have come to us in a time where you're world is at war," one of the men said, his voice was soft and high, and although Harry feared these men there was something alluring in his voice. "Leave now and you shall live."

"We cannot do that," Remus said to them all, turned his back on the ones in front and coming to face those behind.

"Then you shall die," said the same vampire who spoke before.

One of the vampires snarled and leapt forwards, aiming directly for Snape's neck.


	3. Chapter 3 Vampires and Werewolves

Chapter 3

The vampire was flying through the air. Snape grabbed his wand and aimed it up.

"Impedimenta," Snape said.

The vampire stopped in mid air, frozen in the shape that he had been in. He fell to the floor with a thud. The spell, however, only lasted a second. Remus had already drawn his wand and was aiming it at the vampires in front of him. His back was to Snape, and he daren't take his eyes off the vampires. The vampire who had been bound by the spell got to his feet and snarled. Snape didn't even flinch at the snarl, and stood, staring the creature in the eyes, defying it to make another move. The vampire ignored the glowering and went forth to attack again. He used his speed this time. Harry had been watching the vampire, and then it just seemed to disappear. I turned to see Snape had the creature trying to latch onto his neck. Snape's elbow was raised and it was thrust into the vampires own neck, holding it back. Snape couldn't get his wand up because the vampire was held onto his other hand, locking it out of his direction.

Remus backed into Harry. Harry stumbled forward and Remus took his gaze off the vampires. His eyes only flicked away for a split second, but it was enough for the vampires to act. When Remus's eyes went back to where the vampires were they had all disappeared. Remus looked to his left and saw one of the creatures flying at him. He brought his wand round.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus shouted.

He put enough power behind the spell to make the vampire fly into the wall opposite. He brought his wand round and hit another vampire with the same spell, making it fly down the tunnel. He brought his wand upon the third but it was too fast for him. The vampire grabbed Remus's wrist and squeezed. He had no choice but to drop the wand, and he did. The vampire then grabbed Remus's neck and sunk his teeth into the skin.

Snape had managed to get the Vampire to the floor, but the fall had knocked the wind out of him and he was too breathless to concentrate. The Vampire descended upon him. Snape tried to raise his wand, but his movements were slow and sluggish.

"Lumos!" Harry shouted.

His wand erupted into a bright light, which lit up the tunnel so brightly that no one could see, let alone the vampires. The vampires moaned and shouted, and then began to flee down the tunnel, in either direction. The vampire that was on Remus, however, was getting a supply of blood so the light didn't hurt him. You see, sunlight will kill or seriously injure a vampire, as the sun is a source of pure energy, and anything close to sunlight will hurt a vampire and repel it. The light from Harry's wand was enough to repel the vampires, but if a vampire is drinking blood then he is obtaining the food he needs to survive and that is enough to counter act the effects of light-that-is-not-sunlight. Harry grabbed the vampire by the shoulder and tried to pull it off, but he soon realised that trying to pull a creature like a vampire away is almost impossible. It was like trying to drag a tonne of steel across a rough surface, that isn't gunna happen.

Remus began to spasm. Snape stood up. Harry looked at him pleadingly. Snape stood there and watched the scene unfolding before him. He raised his wand. Remus was moving so much that the vampire was thrown off. He fled down the tunnel after the others when he saw the light. Harry began to walk forward, but Snape held him back, and it was then that Harry realised the wand was on Remus.

"Stand back," Snape commanded.

Harry looked back and forth between his Potions Master and his friend. Remus's face began to grow bigger. His nose began to protrude outwards. His hair began to grow longer and so did his nails and teeth. His eyes turned black, the same colour as the vampires' eyes. Harry knew what was happening. Remus completed his transformation into a werewolf.

The wolf looked at Harry and Snape. Before it could do anything, Snape acted.

"Petrificus Totalus," Snape said.

The werewolf's body lined up like a solder and became still on the floor. Snape put away his wand and moved over to Remus's side.

"We have to get him out in the sunlight," Snape said, bending down to grab the wolf's shoulders.

Harry nodded and ran to Remus's legs. Harry put his wand on top of Remus so they had light to get out with. Snape and Harry then picked up Remus and began carrying him back towards the tunnel entrance. When they got out, Harry grabbed his wand with one hand.

"Nox," he said, extinguishing the light.

He put his wand safely out of sight and grabbed Remus with his other hand. They took him out to the alley, and Harry thought they'd be taking him to the street, but when Snape turned to a different direction he realised it would be stupid to take a werewolf onto a street and then let everyone watch him transform into a human. Snape took out his wand.

"Alohomora!" Snape called out.

The padlock on a door fell open. Snape ran through the door and to the other side. He used the spell again and kicked the door open. On the other side the alley was bathed in soft golden sunlight.

"Set him down in the sun," Snape commanded.

He and Harry lowered Remus down onto the cobblestone path in the sunlight. Snape then sat back against a wall, looking absolutely ridiculous in his shorts and t-shirt. Harry sat next to Remus.

"If a werewolf turns into a werewolf prematurely then the only way it can turn back is if it is exposed to sunlight. The sun is a giant ball of energy that reinforces the good side of magic rather than the bad. When a werewolf changes there is bad magic involved, but only a slight amount, which makes them change, but doesn't keep them that way. The sun gets rid of that energy immediately, and can do so routinely when the routine of a full moon is followed, but it still does it just as well if there is a premature transformation," Snape explained, though he was out of breath from carrying the large wolf 120 yards up a tunnel and across an alley.

"Then why does the moon change them into werewolves?" Harry asked.

Snape scowled at him.

"What does the moon do, Mr Potter?" Snape asked sharply.

"It reflects the sunlight, but wouldn't that be a good thing?" Harry asked further.

"No, Mr Potter," Snape sighed, "a reflection in a mirror is the exact opposite of what is stood in front of the mirror. The moon is the same thing. It reflects the light but because it is a reflection it brings out the bad magic, rather than the good. A werewolf transforms at the full moon because it needs a certain amount of reflected light to bring out the bad magic, and at a full moon the most light is being reflected so the bad magic has enough power to take over. I would have thought that would be obvious, Mr Potter, use your common sense."

Harry let his head drop. He hated when Snape gave him abuse, but it was even worse now because it concerned his friend.

"Why did the vampire bite transform Remus?" Harry asked, his head still bowed low.

"Vampires have a small amount of toxin in their bite. It is harmless when they aren't in their hunting form, and is actually the pheromone that entices people to them. That is why if a vampire kisses you, you will be under their spell for a long time," Snape began to explain, "but in their hunting form the toxin becomes slightly toxic and paralyses their victim, which is why there is so little resistance when a vampire bites. The toxin is made by the part of the body that is vampiric, and vampires and werewolves tend to be allergic to each other. Remus reacted because the toxin was brought into his body and it brought out the wolf, because it is the only thing strong enough to fight the toxin. Right now though, that vampire will be getting ill and soon it will perish."

Remus began to shake violently. Harry began to move towards him but Snape stopped him, once again. Remus began to shimmer almost, and then his snout began to recede. He let out a painful howl, which began to turn more human as it was being made. Remus's nails and teeth began to come back to their normal size. His hair receded back to human length and his body shrunk back to the right size. Remus lay on the floor, shaking still.

"His body has been through a shock, and he'll be out for the next hour, he stayed in wolf form because he needed to destroy all the toxin, or else he would have transformed back as soon as he hit the sun," Snape said.

Harry looked up at his Potions Master, and realised he had a slight of new found respect for the man. He certainly knew what to do when a werewolf went wrong. Snape caught his gaze and held it for a minute. Harry turned back to Remus and knelt down beside him. He took his coat off and covered the near naked man with it. Then he sat gently stroking Remus's hair. Snape turned around and let out a brief sigh. He should have been more prepared, but this time he'll go in fires blazing. The vampires tried to kill him, now he will kill as many of them as needed until Harry got the information he had to get.


	4. Chapter4 Vampires Are a Pain in the Neck

Chapter 4

"Incendio!" Snape shouted, as loud as he could, whilst pointing his wand down the tunnel.

A massive torrent of flames exploded from the Potions Master's wand. It lit up the entire alley way, causing all the shadows, and the shadows that appeared to move, disappear. Harry had to put his hand across his eyes to shield them from the heat. The fire shot down the tunnel at a speed which Harry had only seen in cars. He realised that Professor Snape had a lot more power than Harry first guessed, and now part of him feared the Potions Master.

When Snape stopped the flames he looked down into the tunnel. The edges were scorched black, and the very little amount of water that was in the tunnel had evaporated immediately. Snape looked satisfied with himself. He nodded to Harry to Lumos his wand. Harry did and followed close behind Snape. Remus was at the back, his wand raised high, but he couldn't do much because he still wasn't at full strength.

"Don't touch the walls," Snape said over his shoulder.

Harry's light was bright but everything was still black. They reached the end of the tunnel and came into the main sewage tunnel. Severus turned left, in the direction they had been heading before. He never let his wand down and kept it poised in perfect position the whole time.

They came across the place where they had been attacked before. All three of them stopped together, ready for something to fly out of the walls, but Snape realised no one would attack so long as Harry's wand was lit up. He walked on and the other two followed. After another 50 yards they came across a split in the tunnel. The main tunnel broke off into two separate, smaller tunnels. Snape made the decision to go right. They followed the tunnel down, and after a while all three realised there was no water in the bottom of this tunnel. When they reached the end they were met by a dark brown, wooden door. It had a black iron rim and hinges, but the rest was solid timber.

"Nox," Harry whispered to his wand.

The light went out and Snape pushed on the door. The dim yellow lights were still on, which meant they could see, just not very well. The door wouldn't open.

"Alohomora," Snape said, pointing his wand at the door.

The lock clicked, and Snape pushed the door open.

"Incendio," he said, shooting a jet of fire through the darkness.

The fire caused enough light for him to see what was further down. He realised at once though that this area was not in fact a tunnel, but was in fact a room. The light showed that there was no one here. Snape strode meaningfully into the room. Harry and Remus followed.

"A little light, Mr Potter," Snape said, staring down at Harry.

Harry nodded.

"Lumos," he said, lighting up his wand.

As soon as the light came on Harry heard shuffling, and chains rattling. Harry looked round the room and saw a set of five doors on every wall. Each door was the same as the door they came through, dark brown wood and black iron rims, except these doors had a solid black iron grate in the middle. Hands began to appear through the gaps in the bars. Harry gasped at the sight. The hands were black and brown, filthy from numerous days, weeks, months or even years trapped inside the cells.

"Help us!" A woman screamed from one of the cells.

"We should leave," Snape said, turning for the door.

"To hell with that!" Harry shouted. "We've got to get them out.

Snape glared at him, one of those stares that would make you quiver in even the biggest boots.

"Listen to me, Harry Potter," Snape said harshly, with venom in his voice, "I do not appreciate your back chat, and there is no way to help all these people, we cannot afford to anger the vampires any further. Now stop trying to be a hero and start getting to grips with reality."

Harry was fuming now, not only was he being told to leave innocent people in their cells, but he had just been insulted by the man in front of him. Professor Snape turned to the door and walked out. Harry clenched his fists, gripping his wand as tight as a human hand can grip such a thing. Remus put his hand on the young man's shoulder.

"He is an emotionless, greasy hair, flat voiced, toad," Remus said calmly, "but he has a point, we can't help these people and you're in enough trouble as it is."

Harry looked up at his friend and nodded meekly.

"Avada Kedavra!" A voice shouted from outside. Harry and Remus looked at each other in worry, and then ran out the door.

Snape walked out of the room, leaving Harry and Remus alone together. He was starting to walk up the tunnel. He got about 10 yards when he realised he'd made a very big mistake. He had let his annoyance for Harry overrule his common sense. He raised his wand as soon as he heard the fluttering.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted out.

A green bolt of magic shot down the tunnel. The unsuspecting vampire at the end didn't expect the Potions Master to use such dark magic, and he was unprepared. The bolt hit him right in the chest.

"Severus?" Remus shouted from behind him.

Snape instinctively turned around and pointed his wand, but just as he was about the utter the killing curse again he realised who it was, and it was a good thing as well because the wand was pointing right at Remus's head.

"You killed one?" Harry asked.

Snape sighed in anger.

"No, Mr Potter, you can't kill something that's already dead," Snape explained, "the killing curse will only kill the living, and vampires no longer class as living being, the curse only knocked him out."

Harry nodded his understanding and the three stood over the body.

"Lumos," Harry said, lighting up his wand.

The vampires face changed from hunting to normal as they watched; because he was no longer conscious his body had no need to hunt. The vampires nails began to recede and when they were normal they lost all ferocity, and actually seemed quite well kept. The vampires teeth shrank back to normal; and the other teeth fell back into place, revealing a very shiny set of perfectly white teeth. Harry crouched down and opened the vampire's eyelid. The black pupil faded to grey, then to white. Then a pale blue began to shine through the white, and it darker and darker, until it was a beautiful sky blue. The eyes themselves seemed to shine. Harry could see that the vampire's body was in good shape, and his face was slender and well proportioned. He realised also how strong the effects of the pheromone were, for his proximity to the vampire made him see the creature as being extremely attractive. Remus realised Harry was hovering and pulled him to his feet. Harry looked at Remus apologetically, and Remus returned it with a scowl.

They left the vampire on the floor and carried on walking up the tunnel. They came to the two way split and went down the left tunnel. Harry's light meant that no vampires would attack, but they were all still on edge. Remus was growing stronger and stronger, though he was cold from his lack of clothing. The three reached another door. This time it was bigger. It was the same shape as the front doors at Hogwarts, but a smaller version. The wood was a very dark brown, and the black iron rims had small spikes sticking out of them.

"Alohomora," Snape whispered.

There was a small click. Snape reached out to push the door open. Then there was a louder click a little further up, followed by a very loud clunk; and then a wheel began to turn, clicking every half a second. Then there was a loud bang as the final lock ceremoniously opened.

Snape was frozen. Harry was worried. Remus was laughing.

"Only at a time like this could something go so wrong," he said through stifled laughter.

"I'm glad you find this so funny, but I there is a lot of vampires who know we are here now," Snape scowled at him.

"I know Sevvy, I just find it really funny that that just happened," Remus said still laughing.

There was a pause.

"You can come in you know," a high pitched voice said from inside the doors.

"We don't want to," Remus called out, finding this even funnier.

There was no reply. Snape glowered at Remus.

"Sorry, Severus," Remus said, stopping laughing.

All the time Harry had been looking between the two adults.

Snape put his hand on the door and pushed. The door opened into a large room. Along each wall were sets of candle holders, which held three candles each. The holders were made from what looked to be gold, and they were in the shape of snake coiled round. There were four solid stone pillars holding the roof up, which was an extremely high roof. Snape, Harry and Remus walked into the room and stood in the centre. They looked back towards the doors and realised that four vampires had appeared from nowhere and were now closing and locking the door again. Harry looked to the front of the room. At the end there was a man sat in what looked to be a throne. He was wearing all black clothing, and his face was distorted. Not distorted like when a vampire goes hunting, but distorted in a different way. It was almost like you could see the face, but at the same you couldn't see it, like it was out of human perception. There was a coldness also that came with looking at the man on the throne. Harry could feel the power emanating from him.

"State your business," the man said, loudly so you could hear the authority in his voice.

"We have come for information on blood magic," Snape replied, holding his own authority well against the strange man's.

The man began to laugh. It was high pitched and fast. The man let his head fall back and his laughter echoed around the room. It made Harry want to run away and never stop running. In the man's laugh you could almost hear a million people screaming in pain and agony, and Harry quickly realised that it was all the people the man had ever killed.

"The spell you seek is not one that should be found and used lightly, as you well know, Severus," the man said, speaking directly to Snape.

Harry looked at his teacher and realised that Snape had not lost any of his composure, and was still standing tall.

"I can not tell you where the scroll is, but I can direct you to someone who can," the man said, "her name is Agatha and she lives in Mountrath."

Snape flinched. Harry wondered what was wrong with that place, but he figured he was about to find out.

"You would send me to Mountrath," Snape spat.

"That is where she lives, and that is where you must go," the man said, with a clear smile.

"Is there no where else?" Snape asked, a little desperation creeping into his voice.

"No, little brother, there is not," the man said.

Harry and Remus's mouths hung open at this. Snape looked down at the two of them gawping at the man sitting on the throne.

"Oh, shit," Snape whispered to himself.

The man burst out laughing again, but this time it seemed more humane.

"Oh, little brother, why have you not told your friends about your family?" The man asked, and then burst into another fit of laughter.

"Is this true, Severus?" Remus asked.

Snape scowled at him and returned his attention to his brother.

"Then we shall go to Mountrath," Snape said.

He turned to leave before his brother could do more damage.

"No you won't," the man said casually.

Snape stopped. He turned to look at his brother.

"Why not?" Snape asked slowly.

The man stood from his chair. He was a good seven foot tall and his body was slender and thin.

"I don't want you to," the man said, smiling.

Another two vampires joined those on the door. Snape realised what was going to happen.

"Why do you do this?" Snape asked, sounding angry.

His brother tilted his head and looked at him funnily.

Harry stepped back away from Snape when he realised what he was doing. Snape had clenched his fist.

"Every time I want to do something you always try to spoil it!" Snape shouted, stamping his feet.

The man gave a short laugh.

"It's not my fault I've always been better than you, little brother," the man said.

"Can't you just let me do this?" Snape pleaded.

Harry found this situation extremely funny. Professor Snape, the supposed death eater, the evil potions master, was reduced to a crying baby by his big brother. He looked up at Remus and saw that Remus found this as funny as he did.

Their humour was short lived though.

"Kill them," the man said, turning his back on his little brother and walking back to his throne.

Twenty two vampires appeared from nowhere. They surrounded the three and began to edge closer.

"Lumos," Harry, Remus and Snape said, at the same time.

All three wands lit up, but it seemed to have no effect this time. The three backed into each other and stood facing the onslaught of vampires.

"Nox," Snape said, extinguishing his wand, "Avada Kedavra."

A green bolt shot at a vampire, knocking him out, but where he fell another vampire jumped down.

"Your spells are useless here, that puny little light has no effect when I'm here and if you kill any of them another will just take its place," the man explained, watching the scene with glee.

Snape turned towards his brother lifted his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!" He spat, with venom flooding his voice.

The green bolt flew across the room. It hit the man in the face, and deflected off. It struck the wall and disappeared.

"Spells have no effect on me, little brother," the man called out, "now face your fate and die at my hands, like you were always meant to!"


	5. Chapter 5 Escaping the Vampires

Chapter 5

A vampire jumped in from Snape's left. He twisted round and shouted the killing curse, sending a bolt of green into the vampires chest. It fell to the floor, but was replaced in an instant. Remus sent a series of green bolts at the vampires on his left. Three of them fell, but three more fell into place where their comrades had fallen. Remus twisted round to see a vampire flying at him. He used a body bind and watched as it fell to the floor, but had to quickly turn to face off another vampire that was attacking.

Snape released an onslaught of curses at five vampires that were advancing on him. He took each one out, but when he spun to take another one out, it was already upon him. The vampire grabbed him by the neck and began to squeeze, stopping Snape from being able to breathe. Snape bunched his fist and punched the vampire in the nose. The vampires head snapped back for an instant but it just lowered its head and gave a menacing smile at the Potions Master. Snape twisted his arm to where it needed to be. He stuck his wand to the vampires head.

"Reducto!" Snape shouted out.

The spell met the vampires head in an instant. The insides of the head exploded out the other side to the wand and the vampire fell down, dead. The body began to shrivel up, and it collapsed in on itself, turning into a pile of dust. Snape turned to face another bunch of vampires.

"We can't win!" Remus shouted.

He had just taken out another vampire with Confringo, but he saw that no matter how hard they tried they were never going to win.

Harry had been shooting out curses, though not the killing curse, at the vampires who had been attacking Snape and Remus. It was part of a vampire's strategy to take out the strongest opponents first, which turned out to be the two adults. They had left Harry, pretty much, alone. The only vampire that had tried to go after him was met by an Expelliarmus that sent it flying across the room. He watched as the two adults were getting closer and closer to being hit. Then he knew what spell to use.

"Expecto Patronum!" He shouted out, raising his wand into the air.

(AN: Ok, you are probably wondering why he chose the use this spell, and I shall explain his reasoning. The spell "Lumos" will repel a vampire because it is almost pure light, but in the presence of such a powerful vampire like Snape's brother, Lumos does nothing. Harry realised that a Patronus is also a being of extremely pure light, which is why it is able to defeat and repel Dementors. A Patronus is a lot more powerful, and its light is a lot closer to the sun's light, than Lumos so it could be strong enough to make the vampires flee.)

The Patronus shot out of Harry's wand. Its rays of light began to shine around the room, as if the Patronus was a disco ball. The stag began gallop around the three; Harry, Snape and Remus, creating a barrier. Harry's reasoning was correct. The vampires, faced with such pure energy and light began to burn. They turned from the fight and ran. Snape's brother, who had been watching with glee until this point. He now shrieked in horror as the light began to reach him. He, however, had enough power to survive the light, but it caused him great pain and agony, the likes of which he hadn't felt for centuries. The vampires tried to flee through the two exits of the room. It was only when some of them got there that they realised they had locked the door to stop Harry, Remus and Snape escaping. Remus watched the vampires struggling with the door and saw the irony behind it, and then began to laugh. The vampires began to shout and shriek as the pain from the light intensified.

"You're a genius, Harry!" Remus shouted over the noise, looking round the room at all the vampires.

Snape, who had watched for a moment, was now heading over to his big brother, who was shrieking louder than anyone at the light. Snape stood in front of him, towering over the now-weakened vampire. He crouched down, breathing heavily, and looked straight into the vampire's eyes.

"Julius, my brother," Snape said, emotionlessly but coldly, "Agatha told us, "one brother shall kill the other brother", but that didn't mean you were to kill me. You have always assumed you were better than me, but now you will see that I have become far better than you. You are a lowly creature of darkness and you will meet your end at the hands of your blood."

The man, Julius, cowered back on his chair. Professor Snape raised his wand and pointed it at the man's face.

"No, Severus, please, can't we just live and let live?" The man pleaded.

"You are not alive," Snape said simply, "Confringo!"

The spell shot out of Snape's wand. Snape stood and turned around as his brother burst into flames. The blazing inferno roared behind him as Snape walked away from Julius, looking absolutely ridiculous in his t-shirt and shorts.

***

"My master," Lucius said, bowing to one knee.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" Voldemort hissed.

"We have searched the school, my lord, but Potter is missing," Lucius explained. "Severus, also, seems to have vanished without a trace."

"And how, pray tell, have you gone about finding them?" Voldemort said menacingly.

"I am going to send out search parties to all the known Order of the Phoenix hide outs, and we are going to Severus's house and keep a number of Ministry Officials in the school," Lucius said, thinking his master would be pleased.

Voldemort was currently sat on a high backed chair made from a green metal. Though when he heard this he quickly rose from the chair and swept over to the Malfoy.

"You should already be looking, you stupid incontinent fool," Voldemort hissed venomously, as he grabbed Lucius's chin and made him look into those snake eyes.

Voldemort pushed Lucius back, and he fell to the floor.

"Next time you will do things right or you will regret it!" Voldemort called out. "Find me Harry Potter!"

Lucius nodded, though he was angry inside. He came to his feet and brushed off his cloak. Then he stormed out of the room. Nagini slithered in through a hole in the wall. She slithered up to Voldemort's leg and wrapped herself around him.

"Massster, Harry Potter isss not at Hogwartsss," Nagini told him. "If he were there, I would have ssseen him."

Voldemort sat down. He let himself relax into his chair.

"I believe he is with Severus, but I am unsure as to whether that is good or bad," Voldemort told his snake, using parseltongue.

***

"Listen to me very carefully," Snape sneered, "this had to be done."

"Why?" Harry asked, being careful not to laugh.

"There's got to be another way, Severus," Remus said.

"This is the only way," Snape said.

Professor Snape stood by the large wooden panels. He spun round and kicked the wooden gate. The gate lock broke free and the gate swung open. Snape ran into the back garden or the house they had come to. He dashed up the garden to the clothes line. He grabbed a pair of black jeans he thought would fit him, and white shirt. He carefully undid the pegs, taking a few seconds to work out how to use them. As he was taking the last peg off an old woman appeared at the door.

"Thief!" She shouted. "Thief!"

Snape panicked. He pulled on the shirt as he saw the old woman pick up a broom. She ran towards him incredible speed for a woman who looked so old. Snape underestimated the speed at which she could run and was caught on the head by the broom. Snape stuck his arm in the air to try and deflect the broom, but it was useless and the woman just aimed at a different part of his head. Snape was nearly at the gate. Harry peeked round and saw his Potions Master getting beaten with a broom by an old lady and burst out laughing. Remus, curious to know what was so funny, also looked. He held a serious face for a few seconds but quickly cracked into laugh.

"Run you fools!" Snape shouted out to the two.

Harry and Remus began to run, but couldn't run fast because they were laughing so much. Snape got out of the garden and the old woman stopped. She waved her broom at them and cursed them in muggle words.

A few streets away the three stopped in another alley. Remus and Harry were still laughing. Snape was scowling at them constantly, as he changed from his ridiculous clothes into something more suitable for the muggle environment. When he'd finished he realised the other two were still laughing at him, though they had calmed down.

"It wasn't that funny," Snape said, scowling.

"It really was, Severus," Remus said.

"Everyone is gunna here about this," Harry said to Remus, "Severus Snape beaten up by an old woman."

"Will you stop acting like children and get a move on," Severus asked rhetorically.

"Just let us catch our breath," Harry said, with a touch of seriousness, "we need to calm down first."

"Listen to me," Snape sneered, clenching his teeth, "you've had your fun now stop acting like immature brats and get a move on. Do you realise the seriousness of the situation we're in? No, I don't think you do, Mr Potter. Now watch your mouth and start moving."

Harry stood still. Remus had stopped laugh and was glaring at Snape. Anger grew on Harry's face.

"You can't talk to me like that!" He shouted. "You're not my father!"

Harry stormed off in the opposite direction. Remus sighed as Snape took in what Harry had just shouted. He then ran off after Harry.

"He didn't mean to get so annoyed, it is embarrassing for him to beaten up by an old woman," Remus reasoned, "and I think we did take it too far."

"I don't care, he's an arse," Harry said, nodding in the direction of Snape.

"Come on, we need his help, he's the only one with the connections to lead us to the reverse spell that you need," Remus said, looking into Harry's eyes.

Harry nodded in agreement, though he was still extremely annoyed. They both began to walk back towards Snape, who was stood there, oddly without emotion on his face. As they drew near he took his wand out. He muttered a spell and traced the shape of a pair of scissors. He aimed his wand at the scissors.

"Portus," he called out.

The scissors fell to the ground. Snape waited for the others to get close, he then picked up the scissors and held them out for the others to hold. They each grabbed a corner before the Port Key began to take effect. The surroundings began to blur and Harry felt the familiar tug at his navel.

Harry landed on the ground. He pulled himself up and looked out in the distance. There were mountains in the distance, and he had landed in a massive field. He laughed out loud.

"This is a beautiful country," Harry said.

He looked round and saw he was alone. Snape and Remus weren't with him.


	6. Chapter 6 Seperated

Chapter 6

Snape felt something was wrong just before the Port Key was about to set off on its journey. He looked up just as they set off and he realised it was too late to do anything now. He closed his eyes and hoped for the best, something his cynical mind rarely did. A minute or two later he felt the navel-pulling sensation cease, then he felt the floor hit him and he got a mouthful of grass.

The surrounds began to spin wildly. Something was wrong and Remus knew it. He tried to look around him, but he couldn't see a thing, not even Snape or Harry. He screamed out as loud as he can, but he had no idea if the other two could hear him. He just prayed he could keep hold, and he prayed the other two could as well. The landing was rough, rougher than normal. He felt pain as soon as he hit the ground, and realised he had hit a rock. He doubled over on the ground and clutched his painful stomach.

Harry landed on the ground. He pulled himself up and looked out in the distance. There were mountains in the distance, and he had landed in a massive field. He laughed out loud.

"This is a beautiful country," Harry said.

He looked round and saw he was alone. Snape and Remus weren't with him.

"Remus?" Harry called out. "Snape?"

There was nothing. No answer at all. A breeze blew across the grass as he tried to remember what had gone wrong. He remembered the surrounds spinning faster than normal, but he just thought that was because of the great distance they had to travel. Then he remembered finding it hard to hold on. Just before he landed something had happened.

"Oh, crap!" He shouted out, remembering that he had let go.

There was a forest just behind him, to his left. His shout echoed to the trees and a flock of birds shot up into the air, scared.

Snape stood up and looked around for Harry, whilst Remus sorted himself out. There were mountains in the distance and he was in a massive field. Behind the two to the right was a forest. As he was looking round a flock of birds fly out of the trees and into the air.

"Harry isn't here," Snape shouted to Remus.

"What happened?" Remus asked him, getting worried.

"Something went wrong with the Port Key, he must have let go," Snape concluded.

"We've got to find him, the longer he's alone the more likely he is to get into trouble," Remus said.

"We don't have to worry about him getting into trouble, it's the trouble that's out to find him that I'm worried about," Snape replied, quieter than normal, as if he was pensive.

"Severus Snape, it almost sounds like you care," Remus said with a sly smile on his face.

Snape said nothing, but merely scowled in the direction of Remus. He took another look round at the scenery.

"There is a town about 3 miles over there, we'll head there and see if he turns up, if not we'll go to Agatha, hopefully he will head there," Snape decided, looking at the town towards the west, "if he has any sense that is."

Remus scowled back at Snape as he set off towards the town.

Harry heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like a horse walking along a dirt path. He started walking north towards where he thought the sound was coming from. As he walked further north the sound began to get louder, so he knew that he was heading in the right direction. He came upon the crest of the hill, and noticed that the forest split at one point. When he reached the top of the hill he saw that the split in the forest was due to a dirt track road leading through it. The road winded up and across in front of Harry and then fell down the other side of the hill. Coming towards Harry was a horse and cart. The horse was dark brown with long hair on its mane. The cart was a simple goods cart, and it half full with various vegetables. Upon the front of the cart was a man, he was not particularly tall nor was he very large. He was an average man. He wore a black waistcoat with a white shirt and black trousers. He noticed Harry walking towards the road and slowed down.

"What ye doin' out here, laddy?" The man asked, in a strong Irish accent.

"I'm lost; can you point me to the nearest village?" Harry answered.

"Sure thing, ye can follow this road back that way or ye can climb on and I'll take you this way," the man explained.

"How far is the village in either direction?" Harry asked, cautious about getting in the cart with the man.

"The village that way," the man started, pointing over his shoulder, "is just over four miles, a mile of which is forest, and this way," he said pointing forward, "is about six miles."

"I think I'll head through the trees," Harry said, looking towards the forest.

"Nay, lad, you don't want to be doing that now," the man said, shaking his head, "dark things live in those trees, I only get through because of mi lucky charms."

"I think I'll be ok," Harry said, with a faint smile.

The man looked at Harry with curiosity. He then shook his head and grabbed his reins.

"Well then, laddy, the best'a luck to ya, but don't say I didn't warn ya," the man said, whipping his reins to tell the horse to move.

"Thank you," Harry said, as the man pulled away.

Harry looked at the forest again, something about it felt wrong, and cold. He shrugged off this feeling and began walking.

***

Harry approached the edge of the forest. He felt the air grow a little colder. A glance over his shoulder told him that the cart had already begun to travel away. A soft wind began to blow and the leaves rustled. Harry's attention was snapped in front of him as the sounds reached his ears. He drew his wand, just in case. The road was a mile long and he wanted to get through it as quickly as possible, though his feet couldn't seem to move at any decent speed. He scanned the trees, looking for anything wrong. In the distance a shadow shot across the trees. A few moments later there was a pair of small green circles that glowed in the darkness. They only lasted for a second and then disappeared. Harry didn't see these circles.

Where he was now the trees were still open, but the canopy was quickly growing thicker and the light was quickly becoming dimmer. He began walking a little quicker as he suppressed his nerves a little. He kept his eyes on the forest; the chill that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up made him keep his attention focussed. This time he saw the shadow. It swept across the trees a fair way into the forest and just seemed to disappear. Harry froze. He raised his wand in anticipation of something about to attack him.

"Don't worry, lad, it won't hurt you," a girls voice said from behind him.

Harry spun round and yelled the first curse that came to his head.

"Reducto!" Harry shouted.

The curse shot off, completely missing the girl, and flew into the air. Harry kept his wand raised at the girl and began to sidestep to a safer distance. His panic levels were incredibly high.

"That was a bit nasty," the girl said.

Harry barely heard her voice; all he could see and hear was an enemy.

"Who... who are you?" Harry stuttered.

"My friends call me Bunny," the girl said.

It was only now that Harry heard the strong Irish accent in her voice, and how much it resembled a song. Harry began to lower his wand, but the immediately raised it again.

"Are you a witch?" Harry asked.

The witch crossed her arms and stood as if she was angry, but she wore a smile on her face.

"Well, aren't you rude?" Bunny asked.

"Well... are you a witch?" Harry repeated.

"If you must know, I am a witch," the girl said, still smiling at Harry, "but not the sort of witch you're used to."

"How so?" Harry asked, in confusion.

"I don't use a wand, I cast my spells using bones, and from a distance. I don't often kill people, and killing people is forbidden within my people, but I can hurt you," Bunny explained.

"Can I trust you?" Harry asked.

"I'm gunna say yes, but of course I am a witch and you can never trust a witch," the girl said, her smile widening.

It was now, after the conversation and that he had time to calm down, that Harry saw this girl in front of him was really quite beautiful. She had long blonde hair that swayed slightly in the breeze. Her blue eyes were bright and full of life and energy. Her lips were blushed red. She had pale skin and a slim body. She wore a black dress that was a tight fit but did not give too much away. Due to the darkness Harry couldn't see the girl's shoes.

"So, what's your name laddy?" Bunny asked.

"I'm Harry," Harry replied, before he realised he'd given her his real name.

He didn't want anyone here to know his real name in case they recognised him and told Voldemort.

"Well, Harry, pleased to meet ya," Bunny said walking forward, holding out her hand.

Harry reached out and took the hand that the witch offered him. Her skin was cold, but not so cold that it felt dead. Harry shook her hand and smiled at her.

"You're lucky, I don't normally let lads get this close to me," Bunny said with a sly smile.

"Well, I'll count myself lucky then," Harry replied.

There was a moments silence as the two broke their hands away. Harry looked nervously in the direction he was heading. The girl saw the apprehension on his face and gave a slight giggle. Harry loved the sound of her laugh and it made him go bright red.

"Do you want me to walk with you?" Bunny asked. "The creatures won't bother you if I'm there."

Harry was a bit weary to let her come with him, but she seemed trustworthy and he would be glad of the company.

"Sure," Harry said.

The girl turned and began to walk down the dirt path. Harry followed her, but he didn't put his wand away.

After a while Harry looked towards the forest and saw that the shadows were still moving, but they did seem to be further away. Harry looked forward to Bunny and watched her blonde hair blowing back in the wind.

"Why do people call you Bunny?" Harry asked.

"I tend to use rabbit bones in my magic, so I got the name Bunny," Bunny explained as if it were nothing.

Harry didn't know what to say. He was expecting that it was because she was cute or something along those lines.

"Oh," Harry managed to say.

Bunny giggled again, the sound making Harry smile.

"Thanks for walking me," Harry said, still smiling.

"No problem, you wouldn't want to end up with the wrong person now would you?" Bunny asked rhetorically.

Harry stopped and gripped his wand tighter, realising that he knew nothing about this girl he was putting his trust in.


	7. Chapter 7 Bone Magic

**Author Note**

The locations used in this chapter and all those beyond are no reflection on the actual place. I went on Google Maps and picked a random place, and I am making up the details. Any resemblance to the actual places is entirely coincidental.

Chapter 7

Remus and Snape had arrived in the town. They had walked down the main street and quickly realised that this town was still living in an age without electricity. The street lights were lanterns fixed into posts, the transport was horse and cart or by foot, none of the buildings looked remotely new and they all seemed to come out of the dark ages. The women walked around with brown dresses and white bonnets. The men walked around in a range of colours, depending on how rich you were depended on the richness of the colour you wore. Snape and Remus saw a tavern on the main street and decided to see if the owner knew anything. In the sort of community that these people were living in, a lot of secrets were passed around at the tavern where the men were drunk and loose with their tongues. It was a place to have stories told and rumours to be spread.

Snape went up to the bar, whilst Remus hung back.

"We don't get a lot of strangers out these parts," the barman said with a jolly face.

"We need a room," Snape replied, as if he hadn't heard the barman speak.

"Sure thing, laddy, what ye paying with?" The barman asked.

Snape pulled two Galleons and threw them down. The barman looked at the money and his eyes lit up, his smile broadened and he shuffled on the spot excitedly.

"Yes, sir, right this way," the barman said, leaving his other jobs to attend to Snape's needs.

Snape signalled to Remus and he followed them up the stairs to see the rooms. He noticed, as he was walking through the tavern, that every head in the room turned towards him, and in the dark corners people would be whispering whilst blatantly staring at him. When Remus got to the room the barman had already left.

"Severus, I do not like this place," Remus said, closing the door quickly.

"Neither do I, but we need to stay somewhere," Snape replied, "one of us will have to stay awake, also, so that we don't get robbed in the night. It's about an hour to sundown, so we'll stay here for now, there is no point searching for Harry in the dark."

Remus nodded his agreement and sat in a chair. The room was simple, a single bed, a small desk with a candle on top and a chair. There was a window overlooking the valley.

"I'll take the first shift, I'll wake you up in five hours," Remus said.

***

Harry began to raise his wand. Bunny stopped when she couldn't hear his footsteps following her anymore.

"Is something the matter?" Bunny asked, turning round.

Harry didn't answer, he just raised his wand and stood there, facing her off.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Bunny asked, her face turning to confusion.

"Stop doing that," Harry said sternly.

"I'm not doing anything, Harry," Bunny asked, her lips curling to a smile.

"You're trying to entice me," Harry said, raising his voice.

Bunny didn't reply to this, she just giggled. The sweet giggle that made Harry go red. She turned round and began to walk again.

"Just because you find me attractive doesn't mean I'm enticing you," Bunny said over her shoulder, "if I were enticing you, you wouldn't have turned your wand on me."

Harry turned bright red and lowered his wand. He looked into the forest and realised the shadows were drawing in. He ran after Bunny.

"Sorry, Bunny," Harry said to her.

"Don't worry about it, but seeing as though you're uncomfortable with calling me Bunny, you can call me by my real name," Bunny said.

Harry was curious; the name Bunny did make him uncomfortable, but he didn't realise it was that obvious.

"What is your real name?" Harry asked, realising she hadn't told him.

"Charlie," she answered.

Harry smiled; he liked that name better than Bunny. She stopped and turned to him.

"Its gunna be dark soon," Bunny said, "we'll never make it to town in that time."

Harry looked at her, then looked at the canopy, and back at Bunny.

"How do you, its dark as hell in here and you can't see the sky?" Harry asked, being suspicious again.

"When you came in here there was about an hour until sunset, and you've been in here at least an hour and a half, I worked it out," Charlie said with a slight chuckle. "You are a suspicious one aren't you?"

"I don't understand really what bone magic is," Harry begun to explain.

"Say no more, I know people fear what they don't understand, it's only natural, I'll be happy to explain more whilst we're walking if you want," Charlie offered.

Harry nodded meekly and they set off walking again.

"The bones are like a sponge; the life force that is embedded within life is sometimes soaked into those bones and is retained for years. The life force is a source of energy, and as you do with a wand, I harness that energy and use it to cast magic. It's a specialist skill, like you're type of wizardry is. What you do is harness the energy in the wood used in the wand and in the magical object that is used as its core. It is the same basic principle, except I can cast magic from a distance and the type of spells that can be cast are different," Charlie explained enthusiastically.

"What do you mean, type?" Harry asked.

"All your spells are focussed and the wand acts like a pointer, meaning you only have to focus on the spell being cast, rather than what the consequences are or where you want it to go, with bones we have to know the intended recipient and we have to know the consequences of what will happen," Charlie explained.

"You make it sound easy," Harry said, his temper rising slightly.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I don't mean offence, I've just been brought up to see Bone Magic as more difficult than Wand Magic," Charlie said apologetically.

Neither of them spoke again for some times, with an awkward silence falling upon the pair.

***

"What are you going to do when he finds out?" Remus asked Snape.

"I don't know, and I don't really want to discuss it, Remus," Snape said coldly.

Remus looked at Snape with curious eyes. He shook his head and laughed.

"One day, Severus, something will happen and you'll be forced to care about things again," Remus laughed.

"You can't blame me though, after everything that has happened," Snape said quietly, opening his soul more than he realised.

"If you hadn't have done what you did then we'd more than likely all be dead by now," Remus said comfortingly.

"I've never admitted it before, but I fear the day that is quickly approaching," Snape said, almost as a whisper.

"Why?" Remus asked simply.

"What if it goes wrong, people will be depending on me for a lot and I don't know if I'll be able to manage," Snape said, looking at his boots.

"You'll have people to help you," Remus said reassuringly. "I'll always be around to help."

Snape looked up at his rival and gave him the faintest of smiles.

"Thank you," Snape said, louder than before.

Remus smiled back, then gave a single laugh to himself.

"You know, Sevvy, I think if it hadn't have been for the others we might have been friends," Remus admitted.

Snape didn't know what to say. He sat there and stared at Remus in silence, and Remus did the same to Snape. They studied each other. Remus turned his head and looked out of the window and saw the darkness that had prevailed outside.

"You best get to sleep, Severus," Remus said.

Snape nodded and lay down. His greasy hair fell back onto the pillows as he stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the days to come.

***

Harry had been walking for what felt like hours. His feet were hurting and he was getting tired. Charlie seemed to be walking like there was no such thing as fatigue and he had to ask her for a rest.

"Can we stop for a while?" Harry asked her.

"You getting tired?" Charlie asked, turning to face him.

"A little, I've been walking forever," Harry answered.

"We can sleep here on the path, we should be safe enough, I'll stay awake so nothing comes near, I don't need the rest," Charlie explained.

Harry nodded, but he was uncomfortable about sleeping with her still being awake, considering he still knew so little about her and they were next to the forest that was pitch black, but he sat anyway. They sat together at the side of the road and talked. Harry did most of the talking. It seemed that when he was with her and he got going, he couldn't stop talking, and he spilled so many of his secrets.

As time passed by Harry noticed that Charlie seemed to have curled up and was rubbing her arms in an attempt to get warm. He stood up and stepped a little into the forest. He grabbed some dry branches and leaves then piled them in a small mound in front of Charlie. He sat down and she smiled at him.

"Incendio," Harry said.

A jet of flames shot from the end of his wand and lit the pile of wood.

"Thank you, Harry," Charlie said.

Soon after this Harry lay down on the ground. He tried to stay awake but sleep beat him and he drifted off. Charlie realised he had dozed off when he heard him begin to slightly snore. She turned to him and watched him. Without realising she began to smile at how he looked when asleep. She leant forward and kissed him on the forehead.

"Good night, Harry Potter, sleep well," Charlie said, "there's a lot coming to you in the next few days and you're going to need your strength. I'm glad I found you though, we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you yet now would we?"


	8. Chapter 8 If You Go Into The Woods

Chapter 8

The sun broke the horizon in the early morning. Snape was on watch and he studied the land as the sun rose and split the darkness. He watched as the lightly slowly came across the fields and lit up everything. He watched as housewives came out from their abodes and began to scrub and clean. He saw farmers in the surrounding fields come out of their homes and begin to feed the animals. There was a small mill just down the hill, and, as Snape watched, the turbine began to slowly spin in the morning wind. The whole town was coming to life with the wakening sun.

An hour or so after, Remus woke up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the Potions Master who was still looking out of the window.

"Thought you were gunna wake me at first light," Remus said, pushing away the covers.

"I thought you might want to sleep for a bit longer, you were up until the early hours of the morning," Snape explained.

"Thanks Sevvy," Remus said with a smile.

Snape sighed and let his shoulders drop. His head drooped low.

"I know you don't mean anything by it but, could you not call me that, its degrading," Snape said slowly.

Remus fumbled with the sheets and looked down at his lap.

"Sorry, Severus," Remus said in the most dignifying way that is possible with so few words.

"I don't mean to be harsh, but we are not far from where my mother lives now, and she used to call me that," Snape said quietly.

Remus was shocked. He had never seen Snape so subdued and it made him seem less creepy and more human. He also found it surprising that he had accidently called Snape the name his mother used to call him.

"You know where we are?" Remus asked, also in surprise.

"Not exactly, but I can sense when my mother is near, and I'm getting that sense now," Snape explained.

"Who is your mother?" Remus asked, getting out of bed.

Snape didn't answer him for a moment. Remus went over to him and put his hand on Snape's shoulder.

"It's the woman we've got to go see," Snape finally answered. "My mother is Agatha."

Remus was, once again, shocked. He kept his hand on Snape's shoulder but he only did so because he didn't know what else to do.

Remus and Snape didn't speak again until they were outside. They went to the bar man and Remus thanked him for the room, then they passed through the tavern; all the while getting strange looks from every man in the room. As they stood outside Snape was looking round, deciding which way they should go.

"Where to, Severus?" Remus asked the Potions Master.

"I don't..." Snape began.

He was cut off by a man coming out of the tavern. The man was quite large and his dirty grey shirt was stretched across a bulging stomach. He wore a black waist coat but it was too small to fit properly so the man just wore it without it being buttoned up. He had black leather trousers on, but they too looked as though they were about to burst at the seams. His skin was greasy and a thick tangle of brown curly hair protruded from his chin. His hair was greying and both Remus and Snape knew that he was past his prime.

"Listen to me, ladies," the man said, his voice gruff which made his Irish accent sound violent, "be careful if you're going into those woods there, there are creatures in there and the land is cursed. There is no sun inside and the normal rules of night and day don't apply. You're a werewolf," the man pointed at Remus, "so there is a chance you might change, and don't ask how I know. You live in these parts and you can just tell a dark creature a mile away."

Remus and Snape were both in shocked silence. Snape nodded his thanks and approval and the man trundled back inside the tavern.

"Do you think it's safe for you to go into the woods?" Snape asked.

"I think I can control it, but you know what to do if I can't," Remus said with a faint smile.

"Let's go then," Snape said, walking away without another word.

***

Harry sleepily opened his eyes. He knew it was daylight because the canopy above was glowing green. He groaned as his senses came back to him and he realised that sleeping on a dirt road and stony path isn't the best idea in the world. He heard a girl laugh to his left, so he turned his head. He saw Charlie sitting a few feet away from him, a smile curving on her lips and a small chuckle coming from her throat. Harry smiled at the girl, he always loved her laugh.

"You finally up?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Charlie smiled again, and then looked around at the path which stretched in both directions. Then her smile faded and her face grew serious.

"You were talking in your sleep," Charlie said quietly.

Harry scratched his head and let out a soft laugh.

"What did I say?" Harry asked.

Charlie looked at him; she stared directly into his eyes.

"You were calling out for Agatha," Charlie answered with a strange intensity.

"Yeah, me and my two friends are looking for her," Harry answered slowly.

"I know where she is, she lives in this forest," Charlie said quietly.

Harry was confused; he'd never known Charlie to be so quiet, she always seemed to bubble with energy.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked softly.

Charlie let her eyes drop, and her head along with it. Harry heard a very quiet sob so he shuffled over to the side of her.

"Not really, Harry," Charlie answered, "Agatha is the one who taught me Bone Magic, and she has been kind to me, but she's not kind to other people, and if she doesn't like you then she'll kill you."

Harry wrapped his arms around Charlie. Normally she wouldn't have let a lad get this close, but she was upset and she trusted Harry. Harry, though feeling very guilty for it, felt extremely happy. He had always found Charlie to be attractive, and hugging her made him feel great. She was warm and soft and he felt like he could've stayed there forever.

"It'll be ok, people tend to like me, and you'll be with me so I've got even more of a chance," Harry explained, trying to comfort the girl in his arms.

"I hope she does like you, I like you and it'd be a shame if you died," Charlie said, resting her head on his shoulder.

A few minutes later Charlie began to lead the way. She didn't go along the path anymore, but in fact began walking directly into the trees. Harry was nervous, so he took out his wand and held it up, ready to attack. He could feel the creatures in the darkness watching at him, staring with hungry eyes. Charlie seemed more confident, but on the inside she was just as nervous, not because of the creatures in the forest but because of the woman they were going to see. The trees were thick, but reasonably spaced out, and, although it seemed odd to Harry, the canopy was a little more open, so their visibility was better. As they were walking, Charlie kept talking to Harry about various things; her childhood, more about bone magic, things that Agatha had told her about in the world, but there was one thing that stuck out to Harry above all else, "this forest isn't like any other forest, from the outside its only a few hundred meters thick, on the road it's a mile, but if you come into the trees then the forest can grow and grow, and if you're not strong minded enough then you'll never be able to get out, you can walk in one direction all your life and never reach the edge, that's why its good to have me here. This forest is magical, and a lot of people have become lost in here." This thought worried Harry, but it made him even more glad that Charlie was with him.

An hour later, Harry saw the outline of a hut in amongst the trees, and Charlie was heading right for it. The hut looked like it was made from a type of swamp green, thick reeds. They were stacked up, side by side, to make the wall of the hut. The roof was made from sticks that had been fastened together and came to a point at the top. There was a small chimney, but it looked to be made from a hollow log. There was a wooden door that fit perfectly in its frame; and this seemed a little odd, considering the rest of the hut looked rather shabby. There were three small wooden steps leading up to the door, which Harry assumed were for if there was heavy rain and this part of the forest flooded. Charlie went up to the door and knocked. She knocked three times, each knock making a loud bang, louder than Harry expected from the girl. The door opened almost immediately. In the door frame stood a large women. She was not particularly tall, but her stomach was wide. She wore a tattered purple sweater, and dark green pants. On her feet she wore brown leather boots. On her head was a tangled mess of what looked like spider webs and hair. Her eyes were cold and harsh, making her stare intense. Her skin was greasy and covered in dirt and mud.

"Bunny," the woman said, her voice was high but rough, "you're back."

"This boy, Harry, he was lookin' for ya," Charlie explained.

The woman looked at Harry; she stared directly into his eyes. All of Harry's instincts fired off at once, he wanted to grab his wand and fire a series of dangerous and deadly curses at the woman. He wanted to run away and scream until someone came and he could escape. Her stare was so intense that he felt like taking a wand to his own head.

"Harry Potter," the woman said with terrifying smile, "my name is Agatha."

Harry couldn't hold her gaze and longer and had to look away.

"Come inside, Harry, you need to wait for your mentors," Agatha said. "They have entered the forest, Bunny, go and guide them here, they will need you to get through the forest."

Charlie nodded and ran away from the hut. Harry turned and watched her leave. She had left him here with this incredibly frightening woman. Harry turned back to Agatha. He studied her further. He noticed that just around her back was a wand, which he didn't understand because Charlie said she taught her Bone Magic.

"Well, Harry, do you want to come into the house of quite possibly the most powerful person in the world?"


	9. Chapter 9 Agatha

Chapter 9

"My lord, we have found them, sir, in Ireland," Lucius Malfoy grovelled.

He was stood in front of Lord Voldemort's throne, in which the dark lord was sat. As Lucius said this, Lord Voldemort let out a terrifying, cold laugh. It echoed down the dark halls that were lit by green fire light. Nagini was coiled round the leg of the throne and had wrapped itself around its master's arm. Lucius allowed a malicious grin to appear on his lips.

"Why are they in Ireland?" Voldemort said, his snake-like face turning serious and all traces of laughter disappearing.

"We are unsure, my lord, but our spies have reported that they have entered a small forest just outside the town of Mountrath," Lucius explained.

Voldemort reached across himself and stroked Nagini, and she reciprocated by hissing and raising her head in pleasure.

"This could cause a problem," Voldemort whispered.

"Excuse me, my lord, but what problem might this cause that you, in all your power, cannot defeat?" Lucius said, sucking up to his master.

Within a second Voldemort has grabbed his wand and held it in the air towards Lucius.

"Crucio," he shouted.

The Malfoy fell down, screaming in pain. He had been hit with the curse many times now, but it made no difference, every time it caused him great pain.

"Do not grovel, Malfoy, it does not become you, and I don't appreciate people who have their head up my arse," Voldemort snapped.

The curse had been particularly strong so Malfoy was still in pain and couldn't reply. Voldemort stood, Nagini releasing the chair and holding onto his arm, and began to walk out of the room. He swept past Lucius and headed for the exit. He turned a corner and was out of sight of Lucius. Lucius began to stand, he wobbled on his feet but quickly regained his balance.

"Cucio," Voldemort said, appearing back around the corner and pointing his wand a Lucius.

Lucius fell to the floor again, screaming. Voldemort let out an indulgent, evil chuckle and began to walk away.

***

"I don't like the look of this forest," Remus said, shuffling on his feet.

They stood, side by side, staring down the road of the dark abyss that would envelope them when they stepped into it. There was a strange power emanating from the trees, a power that you could only feel after being a wizard for many years. The light from the sun shone into the forest, but almost as soon as it went in, it disappeared.

"If I start to turn, blast the canopy so the sun will shine on me," Remus said, looking at Snape nervously.

Snape said nothing, but merely nodded. He was nervous too, but he didn't want to let it show. Throughout this little journey, Snape had let his guard down and shown his emotions a few times, and it was because of this that Remus now could see the emotions that Snape was trying to hide.

"Don't worry, Severus, we will be fine," Remus said, a reassuring smile across his face.

Snape, again, said nothing but merely nodded. They looked at each other and began heading down the dirt path into the forest.

Remus hit the pure darkness. He felt a familiar pain in his stomach. He felt his senses increase in sensitivity. Deep down inside himself the wolf was beginning to emerge. He began to try and suppress it. When there is a full moon the wolf inside has no problem coming out, and it's because the sun is unable to play any role in the transformation, but in this forest it was because of the amount of dark energy that the wolf would be able to surface, though as the sun was still up it's good energy still has a suppressing effect. Severus pulled out his wand and aimed at the canopy.

"Wait!" Remus shouted, more high pitched than his normal voice.

Sweat began to break out on his head and back. He didn't seem to be progressing into the wolf but he was still in great pain. Severus shot a blasting curse at the canopy and blew a hole in the leaves. A patch of sun shone onto the dirt path. Remus began to stumble over, feeling that he was about to lose control over the wolf. As he reached the sun, it disappeared. Severus looked up and the canopy had sealed back up, as if there was never a hole there. Remus let out a scream of pain. It started at his normal voice, shot up to a high pitch, and then came back down to his normal voice. The wolf was coming, but Remus was suppressing it at the same level, so the battle between wolf and man was getting stronger. Snape had an idea. He aimed his wand at Remus.

"Expecto Patronum," Snape said quickly.

He didn't let the Patronus take on a full form, but just used a light mist to give Remus a better chance at fighting the wolf. Remus looked at Snape, his eyes fluxuating colours, with a thankful glint. Due to the pure energy of the Patronus he was able to hold the wolf in place. He then used all the will power he could capture and forced it back deep down inside himself. When the process was completed he collapsed to the floor, panting and exhausted.

"That was quite a show," a young female voice said.

Snape span round in an instant, and pointed his wand a girl who was stood on the tree line. She had long blonde hair that and blue eyes that were bright and full of life and energy. Her lips were blushed red. She had pale skin and a slim body. She wore a black dress that was a tight fit but did not give too much away. Severus looked at the girl in panic, and she looked back at him with the same emotion.

"Severus?" The girl asked.

***

"Well, Harry, do you want to come into the house of quite possibly the most powerful person in the world?" Agatha asked.

Harry looked at, confusion written all over his face. Agatha took one look at him and burst into laughter. It was a frightening laugh, but for some reason it made Harry feel safer and more secure.

"Don't worry, Harry, I know a lot about you," Agatha said, not making Harry feel better.

Harry didn't know what to say, he wanted to ask why she knew so much about him and why she said she was the most powerful person in the world, but only one question came out; "why do you have a wand?" He asked.

Agatha, once again, let out a loud laugh.

"Harry dear, I am skilled in Bone Magic, Blood Magic and Wand Magic. I can cast any spell that is known to man, and I can do pretty much whatever I want because of it. No other person in the world can use all three magic's, which makes me quite unique, and I could kill you with a single glance because of it. You are in the presence of a very powerful lady, and I will explain more when your mentors get here," Agatha explained.

Flabbergasted, Harry accepted the offer and slowly stepped into the house. The inside of the house was much larger than the outside. The hut looked no bigger than one room from the outside, but on the insider there were numerous doors and a staircase that led to the second floor. It was set up like a rich person's house, with wood panelled walls and lush carpeting. There were numerous pictures on the wall, one of which, Harry noticed, was Charlie. There were vases of flowers and a lit fire place that has two chairs pointing towards it.

"Nice isn't it?" Agatha said happily, "I helped develop the enchantment that allows big things to fit in little things, if you'll excuse the sexual innuendo, and I am able to live a very comfortable life because of it."

Harry felt much safer inside this house, so he turned more attention to his host. He tried to pick out an accent, but it was unlike any he'd ever heard before. The best way to describe her accent, Harry found, was to say that she had no accent.

A few hours later there was a knock at the door. Harry and Agatha had been sat in the chairs by the fire. Harry could see Agatha out of the corner of his eye, but as soon something knocked at the door she had disappeared. He looked round and she was stood at the door, beginning to open it. Harry stood up, hoping it was Remus and Snape, but also hoping that it was Charlie. The door opened and there were three people stood outside. Remus, Snape and Charlie. Harry began to grin, but he quickly turned to shock.

"Hello, son, it's been a long time," Agatha said, grabbed Snape and pulling him into a hug.

Harry's mouth fell open, but after a few seconds he saw the funny side and began to laugh. Charlie, who seemed to be happy, walked over to Harry.

"Hello again, Harry," Charlie said with a smile.

"Hey, Charlie," he replied brightly, "was there any trouble?"

"No trouble at all, like I said, these forests know not to mess with me," Charlie answered.

Harry laughed at her, then turned his attention on the two adults.

"Remus, Snape, I'm glad to see you," Harry said, smiling more.

"We were worried about you, kiddo," Remus said brightly.

Snape stayed silent, which Harry expected.

After the greetings and the stories being told of what happened and where, they all settled round a dining table and waited for Agatha to explain what was going to happen next.

"Well, children," Agatha began, "the spell that was undertaken at your birth was called the Cruor Mutatio. It transformed your blood, Harry, from your original to the two decided parents. Those two parents became guardians along with the man who would be your godfather. You are here now because all of those three guardians have passed away. This spell is not undertaken lightly and we all know that you are of the greatest importance to us all. Now you might be asking why I don't just kill Lord Voldemort myself, but I have been bound to this place, and that's another story for another time, and so unless that little vermin comes here, I can't do anything, and our friend Tommy boy is smarter than that."

Agatha took a pause, expecting people to laugh, but Charlie didn't really know who Voldemort was and the other three were taking things too seriously.

"Well, anyway, the only way to keep you in any form of protection is for you to find your own father. There is only one place that can happen, and that is where the spell was first done. There is a cave, a cave whose walls are seeping with energy. You need to go there, I can send you to the entrance but once inside the journey is yours and yours alone. Inside there will be a goblet on a pillar. Inside the goblet is a volume of blood that belongs to your original father. Only inside this cave will the spell that stops people revealing the name of your father be lifted. Then you will be told who it is and be given a choice. You have to choose between accepting your real father and trying to survive without that protection. It is not impossible for you to survive without your real father, but it will be easier with him. If you drink the blood your physiology will change. Your blood has a magical aura, the aura that vampires feed on, and it will change. It is that aura that determines your physical appearance. Your memories will remain and your thought processes should be the same, but your appearance will be difference. It will be your choice and your choice alone as to what to do," Agatha explained further.

Harry was speechless. Remus and Snape looked at each other with a nervous eye. Charlie stood up and stood by Harry's shoulder. She put her hand on his shoulder and Harry inadvertently put his hand on hers. If he wanted protection from Voldemort he would have to change.


	10. Chapter 10 The Cave

Author Note: Ok guys, sorry for such a long delay, I've had a lot of stuff to deal with and I haven't been able to motivate myself, but I managed to get myself back into it. Enjoy.

Chapter 10

Harry sat alone next to the window. He stared mindlessly out into the dark enclosed forest, realising quickly that he hated it here. Facing the decision that he would now have to face made him feel claustrophobic in the forest and in the house. Agatha was preparing the bones for a teleportation spell that was supposedly infinitely better than the Port Keys. Professor Snape was sitting in an armchair, with his fingers pressed together in front of his face, his expression not revealing anything. Remus was pacing; this, Harry knew, was a common sign that he was nervous about something, but Harry couldn't tell what it was. Harry himself was sitting in the windowsill looking out at the forest. He looked at the canopy that allowed no light through and the dark trees which created an impenetrable barrier that no one could navigate. He had his legs pulled up and his arms around them, and he let his head fall onto his knees.

Charlie came up beside Harry, and tapped him on his shoulder. Harry looked up into her bright shining eyes and was caught off-guard for a second. His face blushed red and Charlie smiled at it.

"It's not going to be all bad ya' know. Your face will change but your heart will still be the same, and you'll still have all the people that you used to have. I'll still be around," Charlie said, attempting to cheer him up.

"Aren't you staying here?" Harry asked, confused.

"Nah, Agatha wasn't me to go with ya, she said its where I'm supposed to be," Charlie said with a smile.

Harry allowed himself to smile. It was some comfort to him that in all what was happening, Charlie would still be there.

"When all this is over, will you be coming to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Aye, I'm supposed to try to learn wand magic," Charlie said, with a look of almost displeasure on her face.

"I can introduce you to my friends then," Harry said cheerily.

"That'll be nice, I don't wanna be left alone there," Charlie said.

"The spell is ready," Agatha called, before Harry could reply to Charlie.

Charlie turned and walked into the other room; Harry jumped off the window sill and followed her. Professor Snape and Remus were already in position. Agatha pointed to two spots on the floor and Harry and Charlie followed suit and stood there.

"In the cave is the protector of the secret, and is also Severus's father. Now, this will feel," Agatha paused for the right words, "a little strange."

She closed her eyes and concentrated. Harry looked at her in curiosity, but his vision began to blur. The whole room began to spin, as if he was dizzy. He felt himself falling over but he couldn't close his eyes. He tried to look at Charlie but she was too blurred to see clearly. Then his head fell to the floor and then through the floor. Harry held his breath as he was falling, still through the floor. His head came out and there was a bright light. His first thought was that he was dead, but the light began to get dimmer and he could see blue and grey. His vision began to get clearer. Charlie came into view, looking completely disorientated. Then Harry saw where they were. They were on a large grey outcropping on the side of a cliff, about 5 foot up from the surface of the sea. A wave crashed into the rocks and the spray flew into the air. Harry looked around and saw Snape stood there, perfectly composed. For a second, as his eyes met Harry's a flash of anxiety crossed his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Woo, that was certainly interesting," Remus shouted, a large grin playing across his face.

Snape turned away from the other three and looked at the rock face.

"The cave is here," he said simply, walking towards the rock.

Harry couldn't see anything, but gasped when Professor Snape walked straight through the rock face. The other three followed

Inside, the cave was lit by wooden torches placed at consecutive intervals providing a yellow glow. Snape was already walking down the corridor. Harry tried to keep up, but he noticed that along the wall were cave paintings and he was trying to see what they depicted. There were many that showed a battle, but one in particular caught Harry's eye. It was a very detailed drawing of a snake, coiled around the body of a large wolf, with a pool of blood at its feet. Harry had no clue what this meant, so he turned to Remus.

"Remus, what does this mean?" Harry asked.

"I can't say what it is exactly, but what I can say is that it is the future," Remus cryptically said. "Now come on, we need to be going."

Remus shuffled Harry along and they caught up to Charlie and Snape.

They came to a large wooden door. Snape opened pushed on the large heavy door and it opened slowly. He went through first, followed by Remus, followed by Harry and then Charlie. Harry looked around the room. The room was circular with, what looked like, four pensieves with a cave painting above it. There was a picture of a snake-headed man over the closest on the left; followed by a picture of a wolf, a stag and a doe as the furthest on the left; the closest on the right was a Phoenix; and on the furthest on the right was a single doe. Harry began to wonder what these were. He figured that the snake-headed man was Voldemort, but he was confused about why he was in here, and he guessed that the Phoenix was something to do with Professor Dumbledore, but could only assume it was something to do with his real parentage. He didn't get any further in thinking because Severus spoke.

"Hello, father," Severus said, with an unreadable tone.

Harry's attention snapped to the centre of the room. In the very middle was another pensieve, and stood over it was Professor Snape's father. Harry stared in shock and disbelief.

"It can't be," Harry said out loud.

All eyes turned to him.

"What's the matter, Harry, are you surprised to see me?" Professor Dumbledore said with a sly smile on his face.


	11. Chapter 11 Searching the Forest

Chapter 11

Harry stared in silence at the headmaster who stood across the room from him. All eyes were on Harry, waiting for a reaction. Dumbledore let a small smile play across his face.

"I realise this must be a shock for you, Harry," Dumbledore said softly, his empathy seeping into his voice.

Then, in a high pitched voice that would resemble something of Brian's mother in The Life of Brian, Harry spoke, "what the bloody hell are you doing here?"

The room froze, Snape and Remus glared in shock and horror. Dumbledore stood as still as stone. Charlie stood, for about two seconds, and then burst out laughing. All eyes turned to her.

"What kinda voice was that, Harry?" She said through tears.

Dumbledore began to chuckle. Remus and Snape relaxed. Harry was looking round in absolute shock.

"Harry, by now you should have realised that I am, in fact, Professor Snape's father. In the pensieve in front of me is various instances of my life involving the birth of Severus, and the spell that was done to change you into a Potter. The pensieve that is behind me to my right details your life from the outside perspective of James, Lilly and Sirius. The pensieve in front of my to my right details memories of how the spell thwarted Voldemort and gave you the power to fight him. The pensieve to behind me to my left shows Severus's part in all this, and the pensieve in front of me to my left shows the truth of your identity and your birth mother. I would like for you to look into that one first, if you will, Harry," Dumbledore explained, indicating to each pensieve as he explained them.

Harry was still in shock, he didn't know what to do. Everything was going too quickly. There was too much information to take in. He looked from face to face, each one of them playing a different expression. He felt his head hurt. Vomit filled his mouth and he threw up. His eyes closed and he blacked out.

***

Lucious Malfoy stepped over the edge of the forest. Behind were three masked death eaters.

"Are you sure they came this way?" Lucious spat.

One of the death eaters stepped up, false bravery playing through him.

"Yes, sir, we surrounded the forest, they have not come out, and we are told that this forest inhibits people's ability to do magic, they would not be able to use a Port Key, sir," the death eater says feebly.

Lucious glared at the forest, as if it were an adversary, but deep inside he was scared, for he too felt the power coming from the forest.

"We'll walk along the road and the search the forest, make sure it is surrounded at all times, keep Potter alive, and kill the rest." Lucious commanded, stepping down the road as if it were nothing.

In total there were 127 death eaters at his disposal. Lord Voldemort, when finding out they were in the forest, expressed his wish that this was to be the end of the chase and Harry Potter was to be brought to him to face his punishment. He issued Lucious with as many death eaters as he would need and told them to raid the forest. 75 death eaters surrounded the forest and the other 52 were to raid the forest. Those surrounding were told to kill anyone who came out of the forest on sight, regardless of if it was Harry. Lucious took the lead into the forest, the others searching the immediate area around the road. Overhead the clouds began to darken and soon rain began to pour. It seeped through the thick canopy overhead and began to wet everything. 20 minutes into the search they heard a rumble of thunder over the hills. Lucious, being more powerful than the others, knew there was something slightly unnatural about this thunder. He continued along the pathway, finding his way by wandlight.

When the two groups met in the middle they realised that Harry must be somewhere amongst the trees.

"Harry will be hiding somewhere in the trees like the coward he is. He'll have the dog and the traitor with him. Keep Harry alive. Kill the others," Lucious commanded to all the death eaters near him. "This is our day of victory, and no one is going to stop us."

The death eaters around him all nodded and mumbled in agreement, not wanting to make a noise in case they alerted Harry to their presence. The Death Eaters spread out along the road and started going in either direction. Lucious pulled a rapier out of the end of his walking stick and used it to cut down the plants and branches that got in his way. He had enhanced it with magic to ensure that it didn't get stuck, and if the blade could go through something, it would go all the way through. Lucious went about 20 meters into the forest and looked to his left expecting to see one of his men. There was no one in sight. He looked to his right, hoping that he would see one of his men. There was no one in sight. He looked behind him, expecting the road to still be there. As far as he could see there were only trees. Endless trees in every direction.

"Damn it!" Lucious screamed out to the sky

He just realised that the power coming from the trees wasn't power as such, but it was a life force, and it was also coming from the ground. This whole area was alive, and it had the ability to make people lost along its way.

Langley Lucifus was one of Lucious's and a high ranking member of the death eaters. He was ruthless and would kill anyone he needed to, to get ahead, and would even kill Lord Voldemort if it meant he would take his place. Lord Voldemort knew this and thus loved, or did the best he could to love, the man because of it. Voldemort knew he had a valuable weapon on his hands with Langley. Langley had never lost a dual, though he claimed this title because he either killed the other person immediately or didn't dual with people he knew could beat him. Langley was part of the hunting mission set out for Harry. Lucious did not know that Langley was in his team, and if he did then he would have killed the man. Lucious hated that the other man was so respected by his dark master. Langley had realised very quickly what the forest had done, but that didn't stop him. He was determined to find Harry Potter and he cherished the thought of slaughtering the others in the most painful way possible. That is why, when he came across a small wooden hut in a swampy part of the forest, his face lit up with delight. He came around to the back of the hut and drew his wand.

"Confringo," he whispered.

The small blast hit the back of the hut and the wood began to burn.

"Seriously, if you want to burn my house down don't try something so stupid," a woman's voice sounded with surprising ease.

Langley was so shocked that he spun round and muttered the spell that had been ingrained into his head.

"Avada Kedavra!" Langley shouted.

Three bolts of green energy shot out of the wand. One flew far to the left and one flew far to the right. The third headed straight for the woman. It was going to hit her face. Then, at the last moment, it stopped mid flight, then flew to the side into the forest. Langley looked in horror at the woman. She was not particularly tall, but her stomach was wide. She wore a tattered purple sweater, and dark green pants. On her feet she wore brown leather boots. On her head was a tangled mess of what looked like spider webs and hair. Her eyes were cold and harsh, making her stare intense. Her skin was greasy and covered in dirt and mud.

"Why do you wand-users always insist on that spell to kill me?" The woman asked casually.

Langley stood up and pointed his wand at the woman.

"Who are you, wench?" Langley shouted.

"Don't you take that tone with me young man, now you will pay respect to me, for my name is Agatha," she said proudly.

Langley looked at her with utter confusion and the look that you get when you think someone has lost their mind.

"Doesn't mean anything to you, does it," it was a statement not a question.

Langley's face cringed in confusion.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Langley asked.

"Oh, never mind, I guess you've all forgotten the real founders of your society. Anyway, I'm forgetting something," Agatha said, thinking for a moment, "oh yeah, you're trying burn my house down so I've got to kill you," she said with a laugh of delight at remembering, "I'm sorry, in my old age I tend to forget things."

"You're insane," Langley said, straightening his arm to point his wand more. "Avada Kedavra."

The bolt headed straight for Agatha's head. She held her hand up. Her hand glowed yellow and the bolt of death flew over her head and into the forest. Agatha then drew her wand.

"I love this wand. It has a liquid core of the blood from 7 different mystical creatures. Unicorn, Phoenix, Basilisk, Pegasus, Nymph, Vampire and Werewolf. Containing the blood is a shaft of bone. Then the whole thing is covered in the most sacred of trees. There is only one wand that can beat it, and that is wand called the Elder Wand, but you won't know anything about this," Agatha said conversationally.

Langley let his arm drop and his wand fell to the floor. He could feel power emanating out of this woman and out of the wand. He had heard about blood and bone magic, and knew that anyone who could use all three was someone who you couldn't beat.

"Just kill me," Langley said, unafraid of death.

Agatha smiled, she flicked her wand and Langley fell to the ground, already a dead shade of pale and as cold as a body that'd been dead for several days. Agatha put out the fire out easily and turned around to see Lucious looking on in horror. He was surrounded by 7 other people. Agatha looked out into the forest.

"Thank you, _so_ much," she whispered.

When she turned back around there were 12 of the men.


	12. Chapter 12 The Birth

Chapter 12

"Harry, wake up."

Someone's voice fell into his ears. He recognised the monotony and blandness of the voice, yet he didn't recognise the hint of panic that was creeping through into it.

"He will wake when he is ready, Severus," this voice was warm and soft but rung with authority.

Severus. Harry knew that name.

"It is not a good sign that he finds out you are my father and then blacks out," the monotone voice said.

Harry moaned to himself. He suddenly remembered why he'd blacked out. Dumbledore was Snape's father. Harry withdrew back into himself.

"Wake up, Harry," a different voice this time.

This voice was familiar to Harry but he didn't recognise it. He concentrated on the voice.

"You need to wake up, there is a lot to learn," the voice said.

Harry couldn't think where he had heard that voice.

"Our time has passed, my son, it is now time for you to discover the truth, I wish it never had to come to this, but unfortunately it did," the voice said.

Harry realised whose voice it was.

"Dad."

"My son, you need to wake up, you are so close to the truth," James Potter said.

"How are you talking to me?" Harry asked, the confusion at the situation mixed with the sadness of hearing his fathers voice nearly overwhelming him.

"I am your guardian, Harry, in life or death. Even when you find your real father, I will still always be with you in your heart," James explained.

"Do you promise?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling like a small child.

"I promise, my boy," James said.

Harry brought himself back from the deep recesses of his mind. He slowly began to open his eyes. He let out a moan in his mind; quickly realising he had spoke it aloud as well. As soon as his eyes were open enough to see, he saw Professor Snape crouching over him. The professor let out a sigh of relief and dropped his head. Harry put and hand to his head and sat up.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"You passed out, Mr Potter, the stress had built up and when you heard I was Severus's father, it pushed you over the edge," Dumbledore explained.

Before he could talk, Harry saw a face fall towards him. He felt himself fall back to the floor as Charlie dived on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. In a moment of euphoric joy, Harry forgot to breath, and with the air being forced out of him he ended up in a coughing fit.

"You scared the hell outta me, Harry," Charlie said.

Harry's face turned bright red as he controlled his coughing. Remus was stood across from them and he was stifling a laugh. Severus was smiling.

'Hold on, why is Severus smiling? And is that what he looks like when he's smiling? Why the hell is _he_ smiling?' Harry thought to himself.

Charlie unwrapped her arms from Harry's neck and sat back. Harry sat up and caught her eye. For a moment, which seemed like an eternity, they looked into each other's eyes. Harry saw the sadness in her eyes; sadness at the thought of losing him and another type of sadness that was even deeper. He also saw the joy in her eyes at getting him back.

After getting himself together Harry stood in front of Dumbledore.

"Which pensieve do I start with?" Harry asked, seeming more confident than he was.

Dumbledore looked down at the boy and smiled. He then gracefully began striding over to the Phoenix Pensieve.

"Your pensieve is of a Phoenix because, as you well know, a phoenix is reborn from the remains of their old life. They, in essence, shed their old life and start a new one, which is, in essence, what the spell did," Dumbledore explained.

Harry stood over the pensieve and looked into the swirling silver liquid. He looked at the faces around him. They were all patient and warm, even Severus's. He looked at Charlie for a long moment. She was stood as if she was anxious, and she was biting her lip.

'She's worried about me,' Harry thought.

He allowed himself to smile and turned back to the pensieve. He lowered his head and slowly dipped it into the liquid.

He began to fall. At first he could see nothing. It was just darkness. The darkness cleared a little and Harry could see rain falling. He saw the ground coming at him at an incredible rate. There were trees everywhere, stretching for nearly a mile in each direction. He was falling towards the trees. Faster and faster. A bolt of lightning flashed past him. It was then that he realised where he was. He was over the forest where Agatha lived. He hit the canopy and fell through. Along the road in the centre a horse and cart were riding quickly along. Harry hit the horse and cart just as it was under him, which he then realised meant that his descent was planned for him to land there. The inside of the cart was a lot bigger than the outside. The walls were decorated with red velvet padding and there were numerous seats dotted around the place. On one seat at the very back was a woman. She had long black silky hair that fell across her shoulders. Her hair was covered in sweat but it didn't make it look bad. Her face was thin, but incredibly beautiful. Her eyes were emerald green, and it suited her perfectly. Her skin was pale, but it had the glow that pregnancy gives all women. She wore a white satin gown. She was also sitting in the right position to give birth. Holding the woman's hand was a man that Harry couldn't see, but he knew all too well. He had stared at the back of that head many times, thinking about different ways he could cut his hair to make him as embarrassed as possible, to show him up in front of everyone. The man he was looking at was Professor Snape. The woman let out a scream and Harry could see her hand tighten on Snape's.

"Don't worry, my darling, we will be in the village soon and my mother can deliver Harry without any pain," Snape said quietly, stroking the woman's hair with his other hand.

That is when it hit Harry. He realised what was going on. This was his birth. The woman was his mother. Professor Snape was his father.

Harry turned to his side. He fell to his knees and tried to retch. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the fact that he didn't technically exist in this memory, it would be his physical body that vomited meaning he would do it into the pensieve, he found himself unable to. He looked back towards the woman. She was in great pain, more pain than she should be. Harry guessed that Snape could see the same thing, because tears were rolling down his cheeks. The carriage took an abrupt stop which nearly toppled Snape and Harry's mother over. The jolt caused her to scream out again in pain. The wall was ripped open and a slender, red haired woman jumped into the carriage. She immediately ran over to Snape and the woman. She took one look at the woman and sighed.

"She's already begun, I'm sorry son, but all we can do is deliver the baby and hope for the best," Agatha said in a worried voice.

Snape turned to look at her, rage filled his eyes.

"No!" He shouted. "There must be something you can do. I won't let her die."

"I'm sorry, my son," Agatha said calmly.

Harry's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe what he was watching. Snape's eyes filled with tears and looked back at the woman.

"Don't worry, Caitlynn, everything will be ok," Snape assured the woman.

'Caitlynn, that's my mother's name,' Harry thought.

She let out a cry of pain again.

"I can't do it," she breathed heavily, an Irish accent in her voice.

"Yes you can, you have to dear," Agatha said.

Agatha met her eyes and tried to give Caitlynn as much of her strength as possible, but it didn't work.

"You are going to have to be strong, you need to start pushing or else Harry will die," Agatha said bluntly.

Caitlynn nodded her head slightly. Severus stood beside her. Harry noticed that they each were wearing a wedding ring.

Harry, who did not like the idea of seeing himself coming out of his mother, moved to a better angle. He stood just beside Agatha.

"Ok, on your next contraction I need you to push," Agatha said calmly.

Harry looked down at her, realising how different these people were compared to the ones that he knew now. Agatha's head twitched to the side very quickly. Harry wouldn't have known it if he hadn't been looking directly at her.

"Stop watching me, its distracting," Agatha said.

Harry jumped, literally jumped, to the side. His mouth hung open. Agatha let out a reassuring smile, but he wasn't sure if it was meant for him or for Caitlynn. Caitlynn let out a scream, which faltered into a sob.

"Push!" Agatha shouted.

Harry saw Caitlynn's body tense as she used her muscles to begin to push the baby. The harder she pushed the weaker she seemed to get. It was clear that it was only the constant pain that was keeping her eyes open. Her hand became relaxed in Snape's hand as if she didn't have the strength to keep a grip.

"Hold on, Caitlynn!" Snape shouted. "God dammit! HOLD ON!" He screamed.

Tears began to form in Harry's eyes. He had never seen Professor Snape like this.

"Come on, you're doing good, but you need to push again," Agatha said calmly, holding Caitlynn's hand.

The contraction hit and Caitlynn let out a whimper of pain. She was getting weaker and weaker. She pushed as hard as she could.

This pattern carried on until Agatha managed to get the baby out. Caitlynn relaxed when the child was born. She laid back and her breathing became softer. Her face was still screwed up into a pained grimace. Agatha hurried the baby to Caitlynn's arms. She weakly held the baby and looked into its eyes. Her eyes lids began to get heavier.

"Take care of him, my love," Caitlynn whispered, her voice weak.

"No, you don't give up," Snape said, desperation seeping into his voice. "I need you, you've got to stay."

Caitlynn smiled, "I love you too."

Her eyes closed and her body began to go limp. Agatha reached out and took the baby from her arms. Snape grabbed Caitlynn's shoulders and shook her.

"No, you can't die, please don't die," tears spilled down Snape's cheeks.

Agatha conjured a cot and put the baby in it. She seemed calm but Harry saw the tears in her eyes. Snape was on his feet as soon as the baby was put down.

"This is your fault!" Snape screamed accusingly.

Agatha turned to look at her son with a solemn expression.

"I'm sorry my son, there was nothing I could've done, this was supposed to be," Agatha said softly.

Snape lunged forward. He pounded his fists against Agatha's chest. He screamed and beat her but it had no effect.

"This is your fault!" He screamed again. "You could have saved her!"

"I couldn't, my son, I couldn't," Agatha said, taking the beating.

Harry fell to his knees as he watched the scene in front of him. The baby began to cry, but no one was in the right frame of mind to help. Snape continued the beating.

"You could have saved her!" He screamed again.

His eyes welled up and he burst out crying. His poundings became softer and softer. His voice was growing quieter.

"You could have saved her," he said quieter.

He fell to his knee's and sobbed. Harry looked at the man and couldn't believe how pathetic he had turned. He was a mess. Snape looked back to his wife and crawled over to her. He grabbed her clothes and buried his head into her neck.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should've been able to save you, I'll never forgive myself."

In that instant, Harry realised why the man had become so cold-hearted.

***

A hand grabbed Harry's back and he was pulled from the pensieve. The moment he realised where he was, he looked at Professor Snape with new-found respect, but also in the realisation that he was in fact his father. They held each other's gaze for a moment, and a flicker of sadness flashed across Snape's face.

"Now you know the truth," Snape said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, also quietly.

"Harry, there is more you need to see, but I want you to understand something first," Dumbledore said softly. "You must be confused, amongst other things, why exactly I sent you on this journey if I could just take you here myself."

Harry hadn't thought about it, but when he did, he quickly did become confused.

"Harry, you have to know everything about Severus's life. It is no co-incidence that you had to find Severus's brother, and then his mother, and then find me, his father. I sent you on this journey because I wanted you to know about the family that you will have the options of joining. I trust you understand that," Dumbledore explained in a warm voice.

"You are my grandfather?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes."

Harry took a moment to let everything sink in.

"What's next?" Harry asked.

"Next you find out the spell."


End file.
